Asri laments the 'ungrateful', defends poetic misadventure

Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has again defended his poem allegedly insulting Hinduism, saying he had always been fair to all religions.

The mufti lamented that a certain group, which he did not specify, has not shown gratitude, but has instead "spun" his poem that was posted last Friday.

"(All that we have done) was not appreciated by them. Instead, Hindraf dares to interfere in the affairs of mosque sermons organised by the Mufti Department.

"After that, my poem related to the government of Modi's India too they have spun to refer to Malaysia's Hindus.

"What is it that they really want?" Asri asked in his latest posting on his Facebook.

"Since long ago I have offered views that are harmonious to all religions… which are fair and peaceful to all.

"I also opposed the calling of non-Muslims 'kafir-harbi' because I was concerned it would cause inter-religious conflict," he said, adding that Perlis had offered funds to non-Muslims and had been sympathetic to custody issues related to Hindus.

"There are plenty more examples where the Perlis Mufti Department's views are harmonious to all religions," he said.

Asri's poem, which has sparked anger among the Indians, followed by a barrage of police reports, defended a certain preacher and dismissed the worship of cows, among other things related to Indian culture.

The outspoken mufti yesterday defended his poem as not being critical about Hinduism, but of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, which he called evil.

"We know the Indian government under Modi, a religious fanatic, has led to many Muslims and Christians to be killed.

"Just because of the issue of cows the lives of many Muslims have been sacrificed in horrifying and cruel manners," Asri claimed.

Detractors blamed for tensions

Without naming any parties, Asri said, "Since early on, they have been interfering in the mosques' affairs in Perlis, when they criticised the sermon 'Islam is religion of peace' by the preacher Zakir Naik."

"Can they interfere in other people's affairs and then tell us not to interfere in their religion?" wrote the mufti.

He said those involved had brought up India in relation to Zakir, and said, "It's as if they represent the Indian government."

Following this, he said, "they" raised the issue of Zakir's permanent resident status in Malaysia, "as if to intentionally raise religious tensions".

Asri said their comments in social media about Islam had "touched on the sensitivities of Muslims".

He accused Zakir's detractors of taking advantage and causing religious tensions and enmity among the races.

Several Muslim academicians also found Asri's poem unpalatable.

Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi of UCSI University was reported by Free Malaysia Today as saying "it was particularly distressing that it was a learned and respected person like Asri who had made the remarks".

Projek Dialog's Mohd Faizal Musa said Asri's "poem that is not a poem", according to the UN, would fall under the category of "hate speech and incitement, and not something that could be categorised as freedom of speech"- Mkini